Did a little digging and found out you can buy the seeds and also already grown holy basil plants on eBay. I also found on importfood.com dried holy basil. I read the taste does differ and is also being called hot basil they say it has a more peppery taste. It is also sold in the form of pills for multiple health benefits.

Based on a Facebook post from her business's account, I think Desert Gal might be working on propagating this variety for sale. I keep hoping she will chime in on this thread, but maybe I need to be more proactive.

Also, the Thai basil that has the same Latin name as the Hindu Holy Basil is a completely different animal. I grow them all except one holy variety that my East-Indian American friends tell me is not used for culinary or holy purposes.

Regarding Holy Basil/Thai Basil...I'm no expert on Pad Grapow so it is entirely possible that I am not growing the basil variety you want. I have Sweet Thai Basil, Siam Queen Thai Basil, Holy Red & Green Tulsi Basil (aka Krishna Tulsi Basil) and just received seeds for the true Lakshmi Tulsi Basil.

I'm thinking the basil you seek for Pad Grapow is either Nicobar or Samui Holy Basil. See this link and let me know as I would be happy to order this seed from the link below and pop them under my grow lights.

Desert Gal wrote:I'm thinking the basil you seek for Pad Grapow is either Nicobar or Samui Holy Basil. See this link and let me know as I would be happy to order this seed from the link below and pop them under my grow lights.

Tim, I'm happy to grow it! I have been trying to pin down all the different culinary basil varieties, and it is my pleasure to learn about this variety. Since I don't do retail sales, that means the Food Nerds will have a place on my "Friends and Family" table of freebie transplants. I've already ordered the seed and will update you in about a month!

Desert Gal wrote:Tim, I'm happy to grow it! I have been trying to pin down all the different culinary basil varieties, and it is my pleasure to learn about this variety. Since I don't do retail sales, that means the Food Nerds will have a place on my "Friends and Family" table of freebie transplants. I've already ordered the seed and will update you in about a month!

Desert Gal, you are awesome! Thank you.

There is nothing either good or bad but gravy makes it so. - Kevin Hearne

All you folks that want to try to grow your own Samui Basil for Pad Grapow, you have about two weeks to figure out what you're gonna do with it, i.e. getting a nice ceramic pot + transplanting mix or finding a welcoming spot in your garden for it to grow.

Basil likes full sun or at least 6 hours a day of sun, frequent fertilizer (Organic please!) and a rich soil mix that is never allowed to dry out completely.

The baby Samui basil starts were fertilized for the first time a few days ago and today they were moved out from under the grow lights to the big bad outside. We will transplant on Monday and do our voodoo magic on them and they will be ready for your gardens in about 10 days.

They will grow quite a bit after they get transplanted next week.

I've never had Pad Grapow and now I'm gonna wait to try it with this basil, hopefully from a recipe someone here supplies.

On another note, this basil looks suspiciously like the Holy Tulsi Basil that is sacred to Hindus. There are two kinds of Holy Tulsi Basil and I have both. They taste completely different, one is almost medicinal (Tulsi Krishna). It would be fun to have someone who really knows what flavor the dish should have to try the more flavorful one (Tulsi Lakshmi) to compare to the Samui. Tim?

Desert Gal, Wikipedia says that grapow and tulsi basil are indeed the same (ocimum tenuiflorum), though the confusion comes from the subvarieties you mention. In Thailand, there's grapow daeng (reddish stem) and grapow khao (whitish/lighter stem). It's the red grapow daeing that's used in pad grapow.

From the following description, it sounds as though the Krishna tulsi may be grapow daeng: "Krishna (Ocimum teniflorum) is known for its medicinal value and peppery crisp taste. The plant has dark green to purple leaves, stems, and blossoms."

I'm certainly willing to cook up some comparison batches.

(By the way, I haven't checked out any restaurants recently because it's just too hot for spicy food. I plan to continue when it cools down a bit.)

There is nothing either good or bad but gravy makes it so. - Kevin Hearne

Yes indeed on the Wiki info. I knew there were three kinds of Holy Hindu Basil (Lakshmi, Krishna & Vana) but I just never really stumbled on the Holy Thai version, and learned of it when digging into it for this thread. It just goes to show you, even someone like me, who may have 10 to 20 distinct varieties of basil growing at any time, still have things to learn, both culinary-wise and medicinal-wise, which is my other area of interest. Sometimes they overlap, sometimes they do not . Learning about this basil is one of the reasons I love the Phx Food Nerds! Thanks Dom!

Tim, if it is the red stem instead of the green stem for your dish then I should have ordered the Nicobar variety from Kitazawa Seed instead of the Samui. There is still plenty of warm weather ahead so I'll order that seed and in the meantime we can get these other varieties growing. Jeez, when you add the two Thai Holy varieties into the mix, that is FIVE different holy varieties. No wonder people like me are confused. I'm hoping we can nail this down and make the best variety widely available. I know a few local farmers. Heh.

I'd love to partake in this, being a big pad grapow fan, but I have no skill at growing things. No, really...I've managed to kill lantana and aloe vera. And I have two potted mother-in-law tongue plants that are holding on for dear life, but slipping fast. (Yes, those are the plants that they use in airport planters, in basements, without light and subject to public abuse...and they flourish...but in my house? Dead.)

Having said that, should any of the leaves of these varieties ever be for sale somewhere I'd be happy to buy a bunch for immediate cooking use!

(P.S. Tim H...is there such a thing as "too hot for spicy foods"?! I guess my cravings know no weather boundaries...I get iced drinks in winter and keep eating spicy foods in August.)